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Iain Burke
'Iain James Burke '(b. Aug 23, 1958) is a Georgeland rugby player, coach, preacher, journalist, educator and politician, currently serving as Governor of East Mainland . He was elected to that office in March 2019, to succeed John Monmouth , who was appointed Ambassador to Japan. Sporting career Burke was born in Mitchell, Long Island, in 1958. His father was David Burke (1920-1996), a Conservative member of the state legislature and later a Senator. His mother, Stephanie Burke (1924-2000) was a teacher. Educated at Scotch College, Dannyburg, Burke was selected to play for his school in cricket and rugby, which led to his trialling with the state rugby team in 1975. Burke was ultimately selected to play for the second team as a flanker, and was first selected for the first team in 1978. He ultimately played more than 130 games for Long Island, and was Player of the Year in the 1980-81 season. In 1981, he was selected to play for the inauguaral squad of the New Kikipolis Demons, for which he played from 1981 to 1987 and was captain for the 1986-87 season. By his retirement, his contract was worth one million dollars annually. Burke retired from first-class rugby in 1987. From 1989 to 1997 he was a director of the Kings, as the former player representative on its board. Journalism Burke started commentating rugby games while still a player, benched during 1985 with a back injury. In 1989 he began commentating full time, and began representing the sport in syndicated newspaper and magazine coverage. In 1998, when the Kings and the Doubledance Power were entered into the Super Rugby competition in 1999, Burke became the lead Super Rugby commentator on Channel Twelve. He was the star of Twelve's Friday Night Rugby campaign, with his face represented on billboards across his home state, with the marketing campaign focusing heavily on the Kings, at that time the country's most successful team. He continued to represent Twelve as a sports journalist on such programs as Saturday Sport and Twelve Game until 2010. Though he was born and raised in Long Island, and played for the Kings there, Burke and his family relocated to Doubledance in 1996. He became a successful company director as well as a sports journalist, sitting on the boards of both Caster Stonehouse and the Bank of Mainland. Religous and teaching career In 2005, Burke was ordained as a lay preacher for the United Methodist Community. He had been raised in the church and been a Christian all his life, and around 2003 decided to devote more time to the church. Upon his ordaination he continued his journalism career, but began religious instruction at several Doubledance methodist schools around the same time. That same year he began pursuing a theology degree at Portsmouth College of Divinity, from which he earned a Bachelor in Community Theology Communications in 2012. While studying, and still reporting on sports for Twelve, Burke also began as a guest lecturer at the University of Doubledance in sports journalism. He was a Visiting Fellow at UD from 2008 to 2009, despite at that time holding no formal qualifications. Political career Burke ran for the Senate in 2013, as an independent. He won 9.4% of the vote statewide, and was the final candidate eliminated from the count. In 2014 he was approached to run for Governor of Long Island, his home state, but declined. At the 2017 election, Burke sought nomination for the upcoming state election for the Georgeland Alliance. He was unsuccessful, but the following year he nominated for Governor of East Mainland, running as an independent (all gubernatorial candidates are elected without party affiliation). The Alliance did not endorse his campaign. Burke won 20.4% of the primary vote, and was eliminated last, with his preferences electing his more conservative opponent, John Monmouth, also a Methodist priest. 2019 state election At the election of 2019, called after the collapse of the state government following the ongoing power crisis, Burke again nominated for Governor, running on a platform of restoring harmony between politicians and seeking a consensus on major issues. He placed first with 31% of the vote, and went on to defeat activist and lawyer Linda Nguyen on preferences with a 60-40% margin. Personal life Burke is married to Rebecca Burke (b.1968, nee Frome), his second marriage. They have three grown children, two from his former marriage to Rachael Conroy-Sillway and one from Rebecca Burke's first marriage. The Burkes have four grandchildren. Category:Georgeland Category:Georgeland politicians Category:Individuals